This may be true overall, but it's overstating the cap hits in year 1, which is our primary concern. 14M is enough for 2018.

Money is money and the cap is fungible. The primary concern is getting value for the money you actually pay out, especially now that excess cap rolls over (and in reverse pushing money off into future years just as easily).

They could create all kinds of cap space extending & restructuring Ben alone. I'm merely giving a reality check to the fantasy that saving $14.5M in one year is some sort of windfall to load the team up in FA.

This may be true overall, but it's overstating the cap hits in year 1, which is our primary concern. 14M is enough for 2018.

Money is money and the cap is fungible. The primary concern is getting value for the money you actually pay out, especially now that excess cap rolls over (and in reverse pushing money off into future years just as easily).

They could create all kinds of cap space extending & restructuring Ben alone. I'm merely giving a reality check to the fantasy that saving $14.5M in one year is some sort of windfall to load the team up in FA.

I think the fear isn’t so much the 14.5 on the one year tag, but rather 15+ per on a 4-5 year deal. Speaking for myself, I’d love to keep Bell long term, but at the same time, make some defensive improvements. I don’t know that they can do both...tough decisions ahead.

I think the fear isn’t so much the 14.5 on the one year tag, but rather 15+ per on a 4-5 year deal.

I completely agree. I'm just responding to the idea that we not tagging Bell lets us sign "2 good defensive guys and a decent RB". Pure fantasy.

I could find the money to pay BOTH Bell and JJ Watt $20M for the next two years.... and then I'm cutting everybody worth a damn after that to get out of cap hell, but the point is fielding a good team is about getting value for you money. Period.

Like the Haden deal last year was a steal, because it cost them nothing to walk away if they wanted to after a year. Deals like that aren't that rare, it's just rare they actually end-up being valuable (similar deal with Wilcox and another guy....jury might still be out on MacDonald).

I doubt anyone manages their cap compartmentalizing a single year. That's just accounting and maneuvering to get under a number. I would think most teams view their cap over 3-5 years.

Until there is actually a resolution—or until something awful happens—the most significant story about the 2018 offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers is going to be the Le’Veon Bell saga and whether or not he will come to terms with the team. Failing that, the Steelers will have to decide whether or not to put the franchise tag on him. otherwise he will become an unrestricted free agent.

The Steelers running back is a two-time All-Pro and is the most productive player in the NFL in terms of yards gained per game played since he has come into the league. He is actually at the most productive pace in NFL history, becoming the fastest player to reach 8000 yards from scrimmage.

Now that the season is over, we have a bit more than a month before the new league year begins, but it will be only a couple of weeks before the team can place the franchise tag on him. it is currently unknow when or if the Steelers intend to do that in the event of the failure to reach a contract agreement.

Bell himself has said that he feels as though the two sides are “night and day” in comparison to last season, referring to the proximity toward getting a contract done. He also said that the two sides have created an artificial deadline of wanting to finish a deal prior to the date at which the franchise tag can be applied.

The problem is that Bell is the only person from which we have heard these reports. Previously, Adam Schefter cast doubt on the running back’s interpretation of events. Now, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette beat writer Ed Bouchette is doing the same.

During a recent chat session through the newspaper’s website, the veteran reporter fielded a question about whether or not the sides are as close to a deal as has been reported. “The only one who has ‘reported’ they are close to a deal is Le’Veon himself”, Bouchette replied. “I was told that is just not true”.

The paper’s account of events would seem to corroborate Schefter’s earlier report, which maintained that there have been no serious talks nor any significant progress made toward a deal. In this case, Bouchette is saying outright that he is being told a deal is not close, which is pretty significant.

Earlier in the chat, he was also asked about his ‘sense’ on whether or not a deal will ultimately get done. He responded that he is “still unsure whether Bell will be with them or not” and that he is “trying to get a better feel on that”.

Regardless of how opinions vary on whether or not a deal will get done with the All-Pro, the sides are even more sharply divided over whether or not the Steelers should re-sign him for what it would inevitably cost, which figures to be, on the low end, about $14 million per season.

I believe the Steelers have been late negotiators so who knows what will happen in a few weeks, but I am guessing he either signs a long term deal or they let him walk and we get a 3. I don't think they are going to tag him again and have to deal with the drama.

Maybe not Bell-like numbers, but I bet we could find someone who we could plug and play via the draft.

Sure.

The problem is, who are we really going to get for the money we save on Bell? And on top of that, now you put RB as a need....likely not getting the guy you're talking about unless you spend your first or second pick on one.

I'm tagging Bell. Drafting a safety and ILB in R1 and R2, and then grabbing another quality safety in FA (yes, we can easily find the money).

Maybe not Bell-like numbers, but I bet we could find someone who we could plug and play via the draft.

Sure.

The problem is, who are we really going to get for the money we save on Bell? And on top of that, now you put RB as a need....likely not getting the guy you're talking about unless you spend your first or second pick on one.

I'm tagging Bell. Drafting a safety and ILB in R1 and R2, and then grabbing another quality safety in FA (yes, we can easily find the money).

Totally untrue in this draft. You can get a dynamic starter in 3, for certain, and probably in 5 or 6. Same was true last year, and now there are more quality RBs around the league than there were a year ago.

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Suwanee88 wrote:

But it’s your fault that you are kind of a stubborn jagoff that would argue with a fence post